Labour's housing 'blitz' as PM says 'four days to save' UK

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak at debate
Image caption,

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak at the BBC's head-to-head debate on Wednesday

  • Published

There are endorsements a plenty in Sunday papers as publications take their final opportunity to declare who they think should be in Downing Street after the general election.

The Observer, external says only a Labour government can begin to deliver the real change that Britain so desperately needs. In an article for the paper, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says that a victory for his party would "relight the fire" among the British people, and rekindle their faith in politicians as public servants.

It's the Sunday Times, external which delivers a more surprising verdict, saying the Tories have, in effect, "forfeited their right to govern". Its editorial says the paper believes it's now the right time for Labour to be "entrusted with restoring competence to government".

"The exhausted Conservatives are neither up to it nor up for it. There comes a time when change is the only option," it says. The paper also carries, external a joint interview with Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and says the pair are gearing up for a homebuilding blitz if they form the next government.

But for the Mail on Sunday, external, the alarm bells are ringing. The paper says the country has "four days to stop a supermajority". It includes comments from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning that Sir Keir will "wreck Britain in just 100 days". It cites policies such as scrapping the Rwanda migrant scheme, imposing VAT on school fees, and giving votes to the under-16s.

The Sunday Telegraph, external has an interview with Mr Sunak in which he says Labour would "bankrupt people in every generation". He says buying your first home, starting a family, sending your kids to a fee-paying school, investing your savings, receiving your state pension, or leaving an inheritance would be harder under a Labour government. The paper's editorial, external says Labour is set to secure a massive majority and that it would be a "disaster for Britain if Labour were to be given unparalleled power to refashion the country".

The Sunday Express describes Mr Sunak's warning about Labour as chilling, calling it a nightmare vision that will engulf Britain if Sir Keir takes power.

In bold red letters, the Sunday Mirror, external urges its leaders to vote Labour. The paper has reprinted some of its own front pages from the last fourteen years of what it calls "Tory chaos". Be on the right side of history, the paper tells its readers.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has given an interview to the Sun on Sunday, external in which he claims voters can't trust Labour with Britain's nuclear weapons. He singles out the party's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who he says hasn't hidden her opposition to Trident during the 2024 election race. He warns she could be only a heartbeat away from commanding Britain's response if the country is attacked. "I think that is a frightening prospect,” he says.

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